Wednesday, May 2, 2007

If you think it's hard following National politics try following local politics, especially in Georgia. Earlier this year the state Democratic Party brought forward a complaint to the State Ethics Committee against the Speaker of the State House regarding what has been described as an "improper" and "personal" relationship between the Speaker of the House and a lobbyist for the Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGL). At the time of the relationship, the Speaker co-sponsored a bill that was to have financed a $300 million dollar pipeline for the company. I may be a paranoid "Joe Six Pack" but even I know this is wrong and there is no amount of rationalization in the world to make it right.

What became of the investigation? Dismissed by the Ethics Committee, half of whom were appointed by the Speaker. Nice catch, Richardson, and a tip of the hat to the 12 members of the "Ethics Committee" who let this get swept aside. You folks are really representing your constituents well and you sure are making an effort to "earn" your keep. All sarcasm aside, we need to send a truckload of hand baskets from Atlanta to Helen, because that's where this state is going.

insideradvantagegeorgia.com, a political clearinghouse for Georgia political stories ran a poll regarding the Speaker's ethics problem and the results are pretty sad. 71% of the poll respondents didn't know or were not aware that there was even an ethics complaint against their own Speaker. Our mainstream news sources here in Georgia are no different than the Big 5 of the nation who blabber away about nothing, real stories that have an impact are pushed aside for fluff and distractions while the real news, the events that effect all of us get a fraction of the time spent discussing whether or not Mr. Mexico gets high at the dog fights or not.

In light of this I have to say that it's a shame that Ralph Reed didn't win the Lt. Governor seat. A Bible waving crook with no moral compass always knows his way around the gold dome. He would have been a better fit for the Georgia legislature.